Jones County seniors reflect on holidays

Tuesday

Dec 24, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 24, 2013 at 3:44 PM

Remembering Christmas past

Noah Clark / Staff writer

TRENTON — As people around the world enjoy the remainder of the 2013 holiday season, some Jones County residents who grew up in the mid-20th century remember Christmas and the New Years holidays as a simpler time.

Alexander Toodle, who was born in 1932, and Julia Jones, who was born in 1917, both grew up on farms in Trenton and have good memories of the season during their childhoods.

Jones said she was one of 13 children and each of them got one toy for Christmas, with girls receiving a doll, while the boys would get a truck.

“Christmas was always a happy time,” she said.

Toodle said he was always grateful for getting a toy on Christmas.

“We were as happy with that one toy as we would have been if we had a million dollars,” he said.

Toodle said Christmas morning always included farm chores in addition to the festivities.

“We had to get out, feed the hogs, the chickens and gather up eggs. We raised our own food, so we had to eat,” he said.

Jones attending church was also an important part of the season.

“All of the children would participate in the Christmas program and read a poem,” she said.

Toodle said when World War II broke out, it had an effect on the holidays due to rationing.

“They rationed everything, including eggs and butter. We couldn’t get anything during the war,” he said.

However, the tough times also helped the community band together during the holidays.

“It brought everyone together and black and white were praying together for our soldiers,” he said.

Gladys Burton said she has fond memories of Christmas growing up in Alabama during the 1940s with her family, which included nine brothers and sisters.

“My parents would take shoe boxes and put apples, oranges and grapes in there and we were happy about it. As we got older, Christmas got better,” she said.

She also said Santa Clause was an important part of the season.

“My mom would tell us to go to bed because Santa Clause was coming. We thought he came down the chimney during the night because the next morning the cake we put out for him was always gone,” she said.

Toodle, Burton and Jones all said the holiday has changed a lot since they were children.

“Christmas today has gone too far, with children getting whatever they want. When I was growing up, we accepted what our parents gave us and we were very happy about it,” Burton said.

Noah Clark can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Noah.Clark@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @nclark763.

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